Hey everybody, I’m making a steering column for my coupe, barebones maybe a horn but no tilt/anything else unnecessary. I have it narrowed down to two ways -1.5” OD chromoly tube with a .125” wall thickness and graphite impregnated Delrin bushings OR -1.5” OD chromoly with .065” wall and bearings Reason for the differing thicknesses is I can only find the bearing or bushings in those respective sizes. Column outer diameter has to remain the same. Question is which route is better and why? Bushing vs bearing. And is .125” wall thickness for the column housing way over kill? The steering shaft diameter is .75”. Thanks for any suggestions.
This might work out for your build...you get the directional to boot.......................they come in different lengths...
.065" moly will be more than adequate. The ball bearing is a plus. Although on the lower end you can get by with a nylon or delrin bushing insert. I like to use stainless steel exhaust pipe that is easily mirror-polished in a drill press with a simple bottom bearing fixture.
I had a feeling the .065 moly would be the way to go out of the two. I never thought of using exhaust pipe. Maybe I’ll buy a stick of 304 stainless exhaust and do it that way. Thanks!
Make your own if you have access to a leathe & welder, 2 seal bearing & chromoly , 3/4 D shaft a few snap rings & steering wheel spline ,,, Those columns shown & tilts that are around $200-$350 are made Very poorly with lots of play nowhere near OEM quality. I have a quick disconnect makes it easier for me to get in and out even those are not made equal, Strange better then Mark Williams,
made mine for my '36 Willys. I used the '36 shaft thar had composition bushings and thin tubing shaft. I found ball bearings that fit the stepped shaft with OD a bit larger than I think 1 1/2" water pipe. I turned the ID of the pipe ends to accept bearings press fit and the outside to smooth it then had it chrome plated.
Good source for stainless can be as close as the nearest dairy farm. They use alot of it for milk pipeing
I went to You Pull It and took a column out of a late 60's Chevy truck with a 4 speed floor shift. I cut it down to fit the Model A I am working on. I did need to machine the end of the shaft to accept a double D universal joint. Luckily I have a buddy with a mill. However, it could be done by hand with a grinder and file. The nice part is that I have self cancelling turn signals.
nobby's 1936 ford pickup project 18-02=1924 (youtube.com) nobby's 1936 ford picklup project - ashleys 37 truck with 39 banjo (youtube.com) not that one this one nobby's 35-40 ford power steering conversion (youtube.com) the next one will be much the same BUT instead of running split collars eitehr end, i will fit a full length of pipe over the inner tube with a 1.5mm wall p.s. you fit a 3/4'' i-d wavy washer under the steering column. you lock the universal joint at the bottom with the grub screw and the bicycle bearing spacer that has a inner hiogh that sits on the bearing inner, and when you do the steering wheel nut up, it holds it all tight, which is nice. just remembered the tube is 1 3/4 od which is 44.45mm bearing is 41mm od you use a 3mm wall tube bore the tube .25mm - its ;just enough; 7/16mm bore depth
I used to manufacture a column for a 39 banjo and a column for a 40 wheel. I used the graphite impregnated Delrin bushings at the top and an Oil lite impregnated bronze bushing at the bottom. They had a keyed and tapered early Ford style top and a 3/4 36 spline bottom on the bottom of the shaft. I used 1 1/2 DOM 1/4 wall tube with a machined aluminum 40 pickup style bell that pressed on the top for the 40 column and started with a stick of 1 3/4 DOM tube that we tapered down to 1 1/2 inch at the top 4 inches. Built the 39's in a CNC lathe. Lots of machining. Sold a lot of lot of them as long as I was displaying at the NSRA shows. Down to one 39 for a roadster I'm doing and one 40 for a future project.
Absolutely nothing. If it shows a seam, a little sanding will fix that. I have always used cheap flanged sealed ball bearings from a hardware store.(wheel barrow bearings). They fit right in the 1 1/2 tubing and have a 3/4 hole. I use them at the top of the column and also the bottom. The bottom needs a collar and set screw. I have also used them in a 40 column. They are cheap and really smooth turning. They are very strong.
Since eveyone is offering an alternative column.....look at Jeep DJ (postal jeeps). They look old, have nothing except a minimalist horn contact, are slim and have a GM 36 spline output (plus there's repo parts).
Yes, a lathe is handy! I built this short column for my roadster with a bearing in the top and a Delrin bushing on the lower end. This is in my 66 Suburban, I ordered a custom length (24") from Ididit, also used a Borgeson vibration damper no, it's not a balancer!
In the late 60's, I took a huge column from a Riviera and put in my 32 3W. It was a chrome tilt affair and had a very big tube. I cut the tube off and welded on an 1 1/2 exhaust pipe. It really did not match up too well as the Revi column was about 3" OD. I stole one of the wife's plastic cups and glued it on for the transition piece. The original 32 drop was retained. It was the first time for the wheel barrow bearing. I used one on the bottom. The Revi wheel went to my 60 Chevy and the 32 got a wood rimed Grant wheel. All is still in the car and has worked perfectly.
You guys typically don't need to use collapsible columns like we do in Australia but you can still use their parts to make a custom column. Most common ~70's style GM and FORD top shafts are 3/4" diameter and have a spline to suit whatever steering wheel you wish to use and a DD profile on the lower end ..... most come with rubberised roller support bearings. Depending on what steering box you're adapting to there are different RAG type joint to DD tube configurations available. Alternatively, male DD shafts with splines to adapt universal joints can then be coupled with a length of DD tube section. BORGESON have it available in straight lengths too. https://www.borgeson.com/1-DD-Shaft-36-Long.html The DD sections also help to absorb any body to chassis flex, and/or universal joint oscillations. A Delrin bushing is ideal to support the lower shaft. Good luck.
I'm making my steering column myself the same way I did it for my son's T that came cool, here is how; First I looked for a good outer tube around 1-3/8 up to 1-3/4,didn't matter much as long as it looked fairly nice. So I found a shiny alum tube from a old unbrela stand out of a picknick table that had been trashed=I love free-B's. I had a 2in. alum dowel that I put in my leath and drill a hole in center down about 1.5in.the size of my steering shaft ,and cut down outside to same as tubing outer size,round off the tip just for a smoothy there. Next about a 1/2in. down from what would be the top,cut a step 1in. long down to fit inside of tubing and cut it off at base of step= very close fit,locks in tubing top by very small screw. Add a little grease into hole and that part is ready. Next to make a nice looking stand off of dash to have a soild feel to column. When my F1 column n box went bad/I let rain water into it,my own falt/bad storage place,,I had to update. If that's any help... IMG_7981.jpg File size: 265.6 KB Views: 326
Piece of polished stainless exhaust tubing bought from Speedway, horn slip ring/upper bearing from mid 50s Chevy car (Chevs of the 40's - had to sand a little off the rubber isolator to get it to fit) , steering shaft from a junkyard '66 Chevy truck with a D cut into it with an angle grinder, hardware store bearing for the 3/4" shaft. The shaft is retained in the column by the top bearing/slip ring and a collar that slips over the shaft in the engine bay. Repo Chevy 'accessory' steering wheel You can use a 'column saver' for a bottom bushing if you feel like throwing $100 at it.
Try this I did a technical on the subject https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/steering-how-to-build-yourself-a-steering-column-cheap.11850/ Curious if you have a way to mount the column tube and where. I ask this as a early ford column mount is great looking for a traditional build and very reasonable . Plus the original tubes are cheap like 50 bucks and fit the column tube dash mount drop. It all depends on the box your using and mounting . When I made my column it was to hide me using a Vega box and wanted a better mounting on the firewall /floor. As said a jeep dj or early cj 1971 to 1975 are GM columns and splines. They are great if you plan on using a later style box.
I have a buddy that owns a pretty large machine shop, so I can rely on him for anything pertaining to a lathe. I’ll have to check out Strange for the quick release. I was looking at Motion Raceworks, but they don’t have a 3 bolt pattern for older style wheels. I really like the transition at the top of the column you made, cleans it up nicely
I have an almost identical column to that oneout of a late 50s Chevy that came with the car. Same exact color and everything. The steering wheel that came with it is in really nice shape. I haven’t counted it out as an option yet
Thanks for the link to the technical I will check it out! The original column drop is still in the car. I have a couple different column size column drops laying around from when I bought the car. I’m using an f100 box so the column should follow pretty close to the same path as the original box would have. I figured just mount at the column drop and then a universal clamp style at the bottom before it goes through the firewall.
Thank you for the videos! Gave me alot of good advice! Man talking about mid BB’s has brought me back to my box days haha
Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I have a lot of good direction to go now. Sorry if I am posting in the topic too much. I try to reply to everyone. Still new to this whole forum thing
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